Spotlight: A Movie that Highlights Why Movies are Made

Spotlight is the story of the Boston Globe's investigative work on uncover the Catholic Priest sexual abuse scandals in Boston and the surrounding area. It has an incredible cast highlighted by Mark Ruffalo (WISCONSIN!!), Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, and John Slattery. It's a great ensemble cast needed to carry the incredible weight of this story. It's up there with the best of investigative journalist movies, All The Kings Men, and it highlights the need for for investigative journalism to continue in our world. There are trials, tribulations, and hours and hours of hard work and labor to go through the stories, clips, and interview a LOT of people. It's a great story about hard work, teamwork, and refusing to settle. This was my favorite movie of 2015 edging out The Revenant, which was also a gorgeous film. It's impossible to say enough good things about this movie for me. Bottom Line: 9.8 out of 10. It's hard for me to think about anything I would've done differently other than a little more focus on the various victims and highlight the staggering amount of suicides stemming from the abuses. Go out and see this film. I have always had a huge amount of respect and awe for excellent investigative journalism, so maybe I'm a little high on this, but it's great stuff.

Concussion: The NFL Doesn't Care About Player Safety? WHHHAAAATTTT?????

Concussion is the story of the doctor (Dr. Bennet Omalu) who first diagnoses CTE, the condition some former football players suffer brought on by repeated head trauma/concussions throughout their playing careers. It's the story of his struggle to get his research and findings recognized by the NFL and publicly. There's a part about former Steeler great and former Lodi, WI resident Mike Webster and his horrible struggles after his playing career. I knew I'd hate that part, but I was also disappointed more wasn't done to recognize his family for allowing his brain to be studied by Dr. Omalu. They helped pave the way for others to do the same and to allow the research, which they went through great lengths to show Dr. Omalu's personal costs and struggles, but didn't talk about the Webster's assistance to the research. The cast is excellent with Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, and Albert Brooks headlining and strong showings in smaller parts for Paul Reiser, Mike O'Malley, Luke Wilson, and a relatively unknown to me Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Wilson is a poor Roger Goodell impersonation and Baldwin is excellent, but can't figure out how much of a "Louisiana" (supposedly) accent to allow through, which was brutal. Besides those flaws I thought the rest of the cast did very well. The story focused a ton on Dr. Omalu, which is a great angle that deserves to be told, but as I stated earlier there were some other heroes essential to the research who got no recognition. Bottom Line: 7.9 out of 10. I liked the movie a lot. People who aren't aware of the struggle to get the NFL to admit the damage they caused by allowing players, particularly with concussions, to continue to play despite their injuries will get quite a story. Those familiar with the struggles will notice some shortcomings. The acting is strong and I'm glad this movie was made. I'm also glad with the steps the NFL and football at younger levels have done to hopefully limit concussions and the issues repeated concussions cause.

The Revenant: Leo and Alejandro's Oscar Bait

I was actually told negative things about the Revenant before heading to see it this morning. The story follows a group of fur trapper as they are off in the American Wilderness (Probably Colorado/Wyoming area?) in the early 1800's. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Glas, a scout/hunter/guide extraordinaire who brings along his son, who is 1/2 Native American. The group has a Captain in charge and the rest of men for hire, including Tom Hardy, who is a bad man. The group is attacked by Native Americans and ten men out of 39 escape. Leo is mauled by a bear, leaving him barely alive. They assign two men (Hardy and a very young man) to stay behind with Leo and his son to "watch over him as long as necessary" while he dies slowly from his wounds suffered. Hardy gets skittish because of the Native Americans who are still in the area and probably looking for them and he makes a pact with Leo to kill him, end his suffering, and let everyone else get away safe. His son catches him in the act, what ensues is ugly, and eventually Leo is drug into a shallow grave and has dirt sprinkled on him. He clearly doesn't die and the rest of the film follows the two different parties as they deal with intolerable cold and wilderness in an attempt to get back to the fort. The cinematography is breathtaking and the acting and story are excellent as well. Bottom Line: 9.3 out of 10. I was a huge fan and the film is gorgeous. I'd see this in theatres if you are a fan of film.

Joy: It's About Inventing the Wonder Mop

I checked out the most recent David Russell + Jennifer Lawrence collaboration. It's the story of the woman, who despite great odds and a family that was a total dumpster fire, manages to create the wonderfully successful Wondermop. The story spends a very long time detailing how bad her life was for awhile. Her mom is a shut-in who watches soap operas constantly and primarily stays in the same room for days. Her dad (Bobby DeNiro) is working on his 3rd failed marriage when you meet him. Her ex-husband of two years is a failing singer who still lives in her basement. Her grandma is apparently the only sane and normal person in the family. She has two children, though her daughter is the only one that garners any screen time for some reason. In my opinion too much time was spent on the bad and not enough on the upswing of success that the Wondermop surely created for her. Bottom Line: 6.3 out of 10. Primarily unimpressive. I like DeNiro, Lawrence, and Cooper in it, but as I mentioned I really felt like the story focused almost entirely on the negatives and hardships instead of triumph.

Annual Baseball HOF Vote Bitch Session

This year the Baseball Writers of America voted in Ken Griffey Jr. at the highest percentage ever (99.3%) and the man who many people loved growing up, a man who actually made baseball fun and enjoyable, was voted in by ALMOST everyone, but of course there are a few assholes in the group that found reason to vote against the best "pure" baseball player that I've seen. Mike Piazza, the best hitting catcher ever, made the HOF despite steroid questions, which I'm happy about (not the steroid questions, but him making it). Jeff Bagwell was again denied entry into the holy land of Cooperstown by 20-some votes. Trevor Hoffman missed out despite being one of two living people with greater than 500 saves. I think this was perhaps due to the sacred cow of being voted in on your first attempt. The only reason I feel he didn't make it is because Mariano Rivera simply was better in the closer role and perhaps some writer's felt he is the only reliever that deserves a first ballot election, which I COMPLETELY disagree with. Tim Raines is on the outside looking in again by receive just under 70% of the vote. Small increases were made by Bonds, Clemens, and McGuire, who I hope at some point will be forgiven for their steroid/PED usage and given entry to Cooperstown. I again don't understand the "holier than thou" approach by writer's on this issue. I'm certain numerous member's in Cooperstown have utilized PED's during their careers, but again the players of the 90's and early 2000's are demonized for utilizing the latest and greatest PED's of their times. I would just like a forum on this debate so that the writer's can at least talk it through and figure out if they can forgive these great players and EVENTUALLY, hopefully sooner rather than later, allow them sanctuary into the sacred Halls of Cooperstown. I feel like Clemens and Bonds are no-brainers because their greatness was extended due to PED's, but not defined by them. Bonds was a three-time MVP before he started looking like a body-builder instead of the lean, mean outfielder who was a legitimate 40-40 threat every year who played Gold Glove quality defense. Clemens was always a workhouse pitcher who throughout the 80's and 90's was still one of the best pitchers in baseball before his suspected PED use started. McGuire is a tougher one since he always possessed super-human power hitting abilities, but was never healthy enough to put up sustained numbers until his suspected PED usage began in the mid-late 90's. It's also clouded by playing with Canseco, who is either a self-serving asshole who sold out other player's and friends for personal gain, or is a pioneer and the only honest player to disclose the widespread PED usage throughout baseball. The new commissioner also denied Pete Rose the right to be inducted for the near future. I again feel like he should be forgiven and allowed Cooperstown during his lifetime rather than posthumously like some other greats, the one I'm most frustrated about was Buck O'Neil. I would again plea with the writer's to open up to the possibility of allowing the Hall to celebrate the greatest players regardless of what is suspected or even proven who dominated their era of baseball. Bitch session is concluded.

Trainwreck

I was late to the party, but rented Trainwreck finally. I thought I'd be in for a treat with a cast like Bill Hader, Colin Quinn, LeBron James, and some great cameos from Marv Albert, Matt Broderick, Amare Stoudemire, The New York Knicks cheerleaders. Instead I got a movie that was all about Amy Schumer and her consistent attempt to be shocking and crass with everything is completely unimpressive. She shockingly flashes some real acting chops, but I've simply never been a huge fan of her brand and attempts at humor in large doses. I've never been able to make it through an episode of "Inside Amy Schumer". It could be my fault that I find no humor in what she does. I'm not shocked in any way by her hooking up with random men on a weekly basis, so that fails to impress me. I also didn't like a shackled Bill Hader. He was not given enough besides to fill the shell of "really nice doctor" in this movie. LeBron James excels in his cameo as Bill Hader's character (Dr. Conners) friend and patient. I honestly said out loud while watching that Marv Albert's cameo might have saved the movie for me. John Cena is also pretty good in the film, though in a minor role. Bottom Line: 5.2 out of 10. Don't believe the hype. Despite the star power this is loaded with it falls on its face due to entirely too much Amy Schumer. If you like Amy, I think you'll think better of this film than I do. I will not be watching it again in my life.

The Hateful Eight

The Hateful Eight is more of a murder-mystery than anything else. In Tarantino's 8th film (coincidentally?) he brings in a lot of the same-old crew he loves so much: Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Kurt Russell (Lumping in Grindhouse even though it's not his) and blends them seamlessly with the excellent newcomers of Bruce Dern, Walton Goggins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Channing Tatum. The tale follows Russell, a bounty hunter known as the "Hangman" John Ruth since he brings in the accused to be hung, rather than the standard way of bringing them in dead, since it's much easier. He's travelling alone in a stage coach with Daisy Domergue, a $10,000 bounty. He comes across Sam Jackson, or former Union soldier Major Marquies Warren, and he comes aboard. With a blizzard coming they are quickly trying to make it to Minnie's Haberdashery for shelter and necessities. Roth and Warren are familiar with Minnie's and it's the last stop before Red Rock, WY, where they both intend to collect their bounties. They run into Goggins, who was a former confederate soldier and marauder who just happens to be the newly appointed Sheriff of Red Rock. He climbs aboard and they rush to Minnie's where they meet the rest of the motley crew of characters like a former confederate General (Dern), Hangman (Roth), a Mexican, and Tom Gage (Madsen). It becomes apparent someone is working to free Daisy from the Hangman and uncovering this mystery becomes a matter or life & death. Great cast, interesting story (not necessarily unique, but at least different), and a really great setting make this movie entertaining and pretty fun, though Tarantino really goes after the gross-out gore and monologues MORE than usual, which is a little unsettling and stomach churning. Bottom Line: 7.7 out of 10. It's a fun film shot in the super-rare 70mm, so it'd be interesting to see it as Tarantino intended, but it's an entertaining 165 minutes that I recommend seeing, especially if available in true 70mm in your area. Waiting until it hits rental/streaming isn't a bad option either.

Love & Mercy- Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys Story

A long time ago my dad mentioned that Brian Wilson was the heart and soul of the Beach Boys. I was excited when I found out they were doing a biopic of sorts with Paul Dano as a young Wilson and John Cusack for an older Wilson. The movie spends time going over the writing/creating process for Wilson in the earlier years of the Beach Boys, though after at least their first successful album and firing their dad as manager. Wilson is a musical genius who would know exactly what he wanted without having to ever write it down on paper. He could blend choruses and different musical instruments together in his head, but like most geniuses struggled to verbalize it to others. The difficulties with this are shown, and it delves into his mental issues that shut him down for three years and various times throughout his life. There is so much to cover in his 50+ years of music, so the focus was mental issues, Beach Boys drama, and a bit about meeting his current wife. It does a really good job of blending those themes and Cusack and Dano both do great jobs with the difficult issue of playing a genius with severe mental issues (which they never tell you what the proper diagnosis ended up being, though they know mention it is not paranoid schizophrenia). Bottom Line: 7.6 out of 10. Fans of the Beach Boys should absolutely watch this. It was a $1.00 rental on Amazon Prime and it's certainly worth the watch to just have a view into the Beach Boys creative process I felt.

The Force Awakens: Star Wars Part: VII

The newest installment of the Disney-era Star Wars movies has launched. It's killing it at the box office, but it felt like it was just a the first building block of creating a mega-franchise with off-shoots in a lot of directions. Without trying to give anything away because the film was as closely guarded as our nuclear codes the film picks up 30-40 years after Return of the Jedi, probably closer to 30 than anything. The Empire has morphed in the First Order lead by a Supreme Overlord and policed by Kylo Wren, a clear Darth Vader disciple. There is still a Galactic Senate ruling, but there exists a resistance, very similar to the Rebellion before it. They dust off some old characters, introduce a cavalcade of new ones, and hope they advance the ball far enough in this film to leave everyone happy and the potential for many more films, which it accomplishes. The CGI is excellent. Story is acceptable. Acting is very good. I was personally disappointed in the lack of Wedge Antilles, the true hero of the death star battles, but I'm probably flying solo on that one. Bottom Line: 8.5 out of 10. I'm a Star Wars guy, so I'm trying to be somewhat objective. I do like the new characters introduced and see them having successful careers stemming from this series. I'd see this in theatres, mainly because it's a cultural revolution apparently, but it's also very entertaining.

Creed: Was This a Rocky Movie?

I bit on Creed since I'm a huge Rocky fan and it was getting great reviews. Michael B. Jordan is going to be a star, if he isn't one already. He plays Apollo Creed's bastard son Adonis who, after a few stints in group homes and juvenile centers is adopted by THE Phylicia Rashad (Mrs. Cosby!), which it was great to see her acting again. You catch up with him as he's quitting his, assumingly, high paying job at a financial firm to focus on his passion of boxing, though his mom is violently against it. He leaves L.A. since nobody, including Duke's (Apollo's former trainer) son, played by Ed Woods (The Wire is all over!). He goes to Philadelphia knowing he wants Rocky Balboa and only Rocky to train him. If we forgot Rocky is just existing in a strange state of apathy/depression running Adrian's restaurant and doing very little. He is fast-tracked to the game by fighting a very good fighter in his first match. Jordan is very believable as a fighter and took the role very seriously, that is apparent. They toss in a love story because they had to. Across "the Pond" the light heavyweight Champion "Pretty" Ricky Conlan was recently released from prison and looking at the twilight of his career. In the weigh-in for his title defense he sucker punches the other guy, breaks his jaw, and ruins it. After finding out Adonis is Creed's son, a fact he tries to hide, he is given the title shot vs. Conlan. Conlan looks like a dude they rolled off the couch, which bothered me a ton. He isn't very believable as a fighter because I've never seen a boxer who isn't in good shape fighting for a title at light heavyweight. In any case you get your mix of training montages/scenes, the budding love story, the touching moments of personal growth, etc. from your standard Rocky film, but it didn't feel quite the same. Bottom Line; 8.1 out of 10. It's good, not great, though Jodran is excellent and Stallone really plays the aging Balboa very well. It's worth seeing in theatres, but it can wait.